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View Full Version : Could Marijuana Have Been My Problem???


Pez Dee Spencer
06-29-2004, 02:23 AM
I was going to add this to the bottom of my last post but I think I might have a better chance of getting repiles by starting a new thread.

As I said In my last post, until about 9 months ago I was a heavy beer drinker, heavy cigarette smoker and ocassional pot smoker. I am also about 40 or more pounds overweight. I am 27 years old.

When I quit drinking I started smoking pot 1-4 times daily instead of once a week or a couple of times a month. Last month I totally quit cigarettes but after about 4 weeks I started back although I only smoke about half as many cigarettes as I used to. I only smoke a cigarette now when I crave one. I dont smoke out of pure habit anymore. Also, the only caffiene that I get is what is in choclolate. I dont drink coffee anymore or drink sodas or tea.

About 4 months after I quit drinking and 4 months into my heavy pot use is when I started having the "fluttery" feeling in my chest. I attributed this feeling to my heavy cigarette smoking and didnt really think that pot was the major cause of it because I guess in the back of my mind without realizing it I looked at the ratio of dope inhaled in comparison to cigarette smoke inhaled and just figured it had to be the cigs because dope is additive free and cigs are full of chemical additives. And before you say that the pot I was getting was laced or something, it wasnt in any way. I knew exactly where it was coming from and it wasnt adulterated or anything although it was very high grade (and expensive :nono:).

Anyway I havent smoked pot in about 5 days now because Ive decided to quit for awhile and see how I feel. And I must say that although I still smoke cigs I dont feel that fluttery feeling nearly as much as I used to when I was smoking dope heavily.

My question is this. Does anyone think that pot could be the cause of my heart problems? The cardiologist diagnosed me with minor mitral regurgitation but for some reason I was too paranoid to tell him or the nurse I was a heavy dope smoker when they asked. I guess I should have but I didnt. If I had told him that I was a heavy pot smoker do you think he may have been more inclined to attribute this fluttery feeling to that instead of the miral regurgitation? I guess he wouldnt have told me I have something I dont really have if he didnt see SOMETHING on the echo but after reading some of the replies on my earlier post it looks like a person with pvcs, palps, regurgitation, or any other heart related problems could probably get a different answer from every cardiologist that they see.

Or could it be possible that I still have it just as bad but the dope was making me feel it a lot more? Why would this fluttery feeling have started back in February and now I feel it mostly all the time? Why would it have come on so sudden? The first day when I started getting it I had some big palps along with it (I havent had a that many palps that close together since or previous to that day) but I got really scared and went to the ER. Could I be caught in one big long anxiety attack over it? I have always had the rare palp here and there since I was in my early teens but that was the first time I got a bunch in a row. And as I said that fluttery feeling seems to be there 75% of the time or more now. I usually only got palps when I smoked too many cigs or had too much coffee or was on a bad hangover which i guess would give palps to anyone. I was never as heavy dope smoker or a heavy smoker of such potent weed until recently. Mabye I just notice it a lot more now since that first scary episode and it has been flutterly all along. I dont know. Seems like I would have noticed this feeling if it was going on previous to that day.

I hope I didnt confuse anyone. Thanks for the replies.

Joe

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stixx
06-30-2004, 04:33 PM
Can probably relate a little here so ill share with you my expereince

Throught out my late 20's i would smoke a little weed here and there. Id pick up enough for about a month, smoke it daily, then back off for 3-4 months. Then get another couple of baggies that would last for 1-3 months. then go 4-6 months without smoking at all

repate cycle, etc.

i probably did this between the ages of 25-29. I also mention here that i was working the overnight shift, and would usually have a couple of beers in the moring to help me sleep through the day. When i first started working the shift at 24 it was a 2 beers a day before bed, by the time i quit drinking after work i was up to 6-8 over a few hours then would pass out for the day.

Needless to say i was not taking good care of myself

I started to notice recently however that during periods when id smoke id start to get flutters. At the time i didnt think much of them, casue id get 1 or 2 and then that was it. Usually, after id stopped smoking they would go away. Eventually however they didnt, and i continued to get them
However over a period of time the situation got worse and worse until i had to start taking them seriously, going to the doctor and getting pretty freaked out. Bottom line though is that during periods when i was smoking id experence some flutters here and there.


The last time i smoked any weed was last november. I would start to get flutters on my 2nd or third hit....and they would last for up to an hour or more. This happend almost everytime i smoked. Combine this with increased anxiety/paranoia about what was happening to my heart and i just quit. Smoking was no longer relaxing or an enjoyable experince and i no longer have any desire to smoke up.

I can totally understand not wanting to mention this at the doctors office, it took some courage for me to bring it up, but i was desperate to figure out why.

The doctor told me that this falls under stimulants like caffiene/alcohol and can defiantly have an effect.
Although Marijuana and alcohol are actually depressents, when they first hit the blood stream they give you a boost and act as a stimulant at first

In some ways i look at the PVC's as a minor blessing in disguse. Ive stopped smoking, drinking, i exercise reguarly now and pay very close attention to what i eat.

Ive lost 20-25 Lbs since november too!!! I feel better then ive felt in years

But i know that there has to have been somethign that casued my PVC's. i didnt live for 30 years going along just fine, to all of a sudden have my heart start fluttering for no reason

Honestly yea, i think the weed was probably a factor. However It could be one of many factors, Anxiety, alcohol, GERD. etc

So although i cant give you a defiante answer, your story in some ways sounds simillar to my expereince

hope its helpful

Pez Dee Spencer
07-06-2004, 03:30 AM
---bump---

 
 
 




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